The ancient city of Palmyra is a world-famous historical landmark, often visited by tourists, that is until the Syrian Civil War of 20111 that allowed ISIS/ISIL forces to claim the region and it's attractions as a stronghold for terror activities. The site was originally a Roman amphitheatre and was selected as a UNESCO world heritage site, but that's all in the past now that ISIS forces regularly use it for much more vile reasons; mass public executions. Hundreds of killings have already taken place here, with spectators moaning along in agreement, waving their flags.

The historic city of Palmyra, which has been described as the ‘Venice of the Sands’, is a vast expanse of Roman ruins in the middle of the Syrian desert.
It was the greatest Roman city in the Middle East, and before the take-over of ISIS, was ranked as one of the 10 best Roman ruins in the world.
But now it has become a stage for ISIS brutality, as pictures emerge of bloodied bodies scattered among the arches and columns that line the city’s streets.
Palmyra’s fall to ISIS has huge resonance in the West because the Unesco World Heritage Site and jewel of the Middle East – which only recently was visited by thousands of tourists every year – could be reduced to rubble at any moment.
Named for the forest of palm trees that flank it, the oasis city has provided refuge for desert-travellers for nearly 4,000 years.
Just 130 miles north-east of the Syrian capital Damascus, the city is a staggering and unique combination of Roman and Middle Eastern architecture.

Some of the treasures of the city include the Temple of Bel, which ranks among the most important buildings of the ancient world and was the religious centre of Palmyra; the elaborately-decorated Triumphal Arch across the city's main street; and the frescoes at the Hypogeum of the Three Brothers, dating from the second century AD.
But in the eyes of ISIS, the architectural and artistic gems are simply the artefacts of infidels, representing false and offensive idols.
‘It is the birthplace of civilisation,’ Irina Bokova said of the city.

‘It belongs to the whole of humanity and everyone today should be worried about what is happening.’
Kevin Butcher, professor of classics and ancient history at the University of Warwick, added: ‘Like Venice, the city formed the hub of a vast trade network, only with the desert as its sea and camels as its ships.’
The Romans took the site in the first century AD under the Emperor Tiberius.
Soon the city became one of the international market places of the world, with imports and exports across the Empire, as far afield as Hadrian’s Wall in the north, Spain in the west, India in the east and Libya in the south.
Palmyra’s amphitheatre, built soon after a visit from Emperor Hadrian in AD 129, is one of the best examples of the miraculous preservation that is so treasured in the city.